During his bachelor in Comparative Philosophy Stijn van Hilten was first exposed to Islamic and Jewish philosophers and their thought. His bachelor thesis was regarding Islamic esoteric thought, and he wanted to continue researching esoteric traditions. This led him to apply for the RRE-programme.
“All in all, I haven’t had a moment of regret having picked RRE as my masters” van Hilten tells us.
The opportunity to delve into your interests
He felt that philosophy and its logic couldn’t prove itself on its own. According to van Hilten, it needed an element of faith. He wanted to study this element further within a philosophical and religious context. The RRE programme was perfect to explore the connections between philosophy and religion.
When asked about the best part of studying RRE van Hilten says:
“I absolutely loved the start of the programme, two weeks in Rome at the Norwegian Institute, studying religious interactions in ancient Rome”.
Prepares you for jobs in academia
Van Hilten is already in employment, but from a general view he sees students go on to PhD’s or other academic positions after completing a master’s degree. About this programme he says:
“It truly helps students to acquire and cultivate the tools needed to work in academia. Overall, I would say this programme is for aspiring academics or hardcore nerds.”
RRE is a joint master's degree programme in cooperation with Lund University and University of Copenhagen. This makes for a varied and diverse student mass. With different fields of studies every student brings a different perspective to the group.
From the support of the professors and staff on this programme, to the interesting courses and freedom to explore and research within these courses, the RRE programme has truly been a perfect fit for van Hilten.
“At times it was extremely difficult to balance my work and studies, but due to the support of the programme coordinator, and the rest of the teachers I have continued so far without any delays.”
A good choice
Van Hilten thinks that this programme allows for some cool projects.
“Right now, I'm researching how certain ideas in esoteric traditions are kept hidden from the general public, and what qualities the elite possess that allow them to access these concepts. While challenging and stressful, I’m having a lot of fun with my thesis.”
He also appreciates that the classes are quite small, since this makes it possible to get more support from the professors. The programme is set up with compact seminars, which makes the contact you have much more intense, but also much more rewarding.
“The RRE programme has truly been a perfect fit for me.”
Religious Roots of Europe (master's two years)
This joint and international programme explores the three most influential religions of European culture and history: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The aspiration of the programme is to study the three religions together in their formative period from a comparative perspective and using a variety of approaches, which include historical, philological, social scientific, feminist and literary ones.